Keith Cowing – Page 7 – My WordPress Site

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Tricorders & Sensors

Revealing the Internal Structure of Mars-Analog Glaciers From Drone-Based Radar Sounding

by Keith CowingApril 6, 2026April 6, 2026

Artist’s conception of the gas giant planet TOI-5205 b orbiting a small, cool red dwarf star. Image courtesy of Katherine Cain, Carnegie Science.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Giant Planet TOI-5205 b Orbits A Small Red Star

by Keith CowingApril 6, 2026April 6, 2026

Period-radius plot for planets in single-star (gray points) and binary-star (colored points) systems considered in this work. Colors correspond to log10(ρ), i.e. the projected physical binary separation in au. We restricted the sample to planets with 1 < P < 100 d and 0.5 < Rp < 4R⊕. The planets in binary-star systems have a similar distribution in period-radius space as the planets in single-star systems, although the relative occurrence rate of sub-Neptunes (2 < Rp < 4R⊕) is suppressed in small-separation binary-star systems (K. Sullivan et al. 2024). -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Stellar Cartography

Planetary Architectures of Kepler Compact Multis with Binary Star Companions

by Keith CowingApril 6, 2026April 6, 2026

TEM images of Ca-MMT’s ordered and distorted layered structures including nanocavities after exposure to amino acids. a Control sample showing characteristic layering; ordered yet with slight distortions, considered as ordered for this clay material. b Sample exposed to single-organic Lys showing ordered layering only. Clay samples exposed to organic mixtures of c Lys-GABA d Arg-GABA; showing highly-distorted layering and nanocavities with well-defined lattice fringes that are embedded within distorted layered structures. In all panels, ordered layering, distorted layering, and nanocavities are marked with white, red and black arrows, respectively. See Methods for detailed image analysis procedure and limitations. -- Scientific Reports via PubMed

Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Sample Return

Antagonistic Effects Of Amino Acids Support Abiotic Nano-environments In Clay

by Keith CowingApril 6, 2026April 6, 2026

Height scales of atmospheres of Solar System’s terrestrial planets. The solid lines show the temperature profiles against altitude, while the background colour reflects the atmospheric pressure. Horizontal dashed lines denote the average positions of atmospheric boundaries: tropopause (“t”), stratopause (“s”), and mesopause (“m”). Vertical cyan lines depict the extension of ionospheres (“i”) under typical conditions. The “⊙” symbol denotes the 100 mbar level. -- Space Science Reviews via PubMed

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones

Upper Atmosphere Dynamics and Drivers of Volatiles Loss from Terrestrial-Type (Exo)Planets

by Keith CowingApril 6, 2026April 6, 2026

Images. (A-B) Purple biofilms dominated by Gloeobacter inside a pit-like feature inside the ERZ, (C-E) green to dark green/purple biofilms found in an open area within the ERZ with various steam vents surrounding it, (F) dried up biofilm inside a cave named “Big Ell” within Kīlauea Caldera inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, (G) dark green biofilms inside a fissure within Big Ell cave, (H) soil samples inside Big Ell -- biorxiv.org

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return

Amplicon And Metagenomic Data From Fumarole-associated Geothermal Features Of Hawai’i

by Keith CowingApril 6, 2026April 6, 2026

Hydrocarbon lakes on Titan - NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Experimental Insights Into The Azotosome Hypothesis In Titan’s Lake Fluid

by Keith CowingApril 5, 2026April 5, 2026

Dynamical evolution of planetary embryos in a representative simulation of Scenario FIX. Each line corresponds to one embryo: gray lines show all embryos, while colored lines highlight those that survive until the end of the integration at ∼ 50 Myr. Panels display the semi-major axis (top left), eccentricity (top right), inclination (bottom left), and planetary mass (bottom right). The horizontal dashed blue line in the semi-major-axis panel marks the fixed inner disk edge at 0.01 au, which is applied only during the gas-disk phase (up to 10 Myr). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Stellar Cartography

The Role Of Inner Disk Edges In Shaping Ultra-short-period Planet Systems Around Late M Dwarfs

by Keith CowingApril 5, 2026April 5, 2026

Maximum BLASTx identity (%) of key Cdh/Coo and CoxL enzymes across eight global locations. This heatmap illustrates the sequence conservation of each gene in different environments, ranging from highly conserved (bright yellow) to poorly conserved (dark blue).

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life

Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase-encoding Microorganisms In Volcanic Astrobiological Analogues: An Enzyme System To Investigate The Evolution Of Life

by Keith CowingApril 5, 2026April 5, 2026

L-Glutamic-acid — Wikipedia

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Behavior Of Biomolecules Under High-pressure Torsion And Its Implications For Astrobiology

by Keith CowingApril 5, 2026April 5, 2026